The bill, which places an added obstacle for young women, particularly working-class women, from exercising their right to control their bodies, was approved 65-34. Last year the House of Representatives approved a similar bill. President George Bush has said he will sign the legislation. Faced with mass support for a woman’s right to choose, opponents of women’s rights are pushing this piecemeal approach to attack the 1973 Supreme Court decision rather than a more frontal attack.

Currently 35 states require parental consent or notification for a young woman to obtain an abortion if she is a legal minor. Thirty-one states have laws that require women seeking an abortion to undergo “counseling,” a provision designed to discourage women from obtaining abortions. Six of these laws have been declared unconstitutional by courts, according to NARAL Pro-Choice America. In addition, many of these states impose a mandatory 24-hour waiting period.

Eighty-seven percent of U.S. counties have no health facilities or doctors that provide abortions, according to Planned Parenthood. This creates special obstacles for women who cannot take time off to travel to the nearest clinic. These laws have made abortion inaccessible to large numbers of working-class, rural, and young women.  
 
 
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